Ten Lessons
The 2024 season was the tenth year of West London Track and Field, and my tenth year as a coach. TEN YEARS. As I started to reflect on my journey so far, I was strongly drawn towards lessons I had learnt along the way, things I wish someone had told me when I started coaching. These lessons are a combination of my learnings as a personal coach and also from leading our inter-disciplinary team at WLTF.
I hope some of these lessons resonate with people both from sport and from the wider world. If there is one thing I am sure of, high performance sport teaches you a lot about how to succeed in the world.
Lesson 1 – Pretty slow
My first year of coaching can be summed up as “all technique and no substance”. I tried to compliment my technical knowledge with my lived athlete experience. Turns out there is much more to it than that.
Since that first season, I have been trying to find the perfect balance between the technical work and the ‘work work’. Spoiler alert, there is no such thing as ‘perfect’ in this game. So, what I am actually trying to find is the optimal balance for each athlete I am coaching, and yes that is slightly different for everyone.
So, the first big lesson I learnt during my career – a combination of the technical work and the “work work” gives a balanced training programme. If the balance tips too far one way you’ll either end up pretty slow or pretty hurt, and that tipping point is different for everyone.
Lesson 2 – It’s a people business
The first thing I realized when I started coaching was that I could not do this by myself.
We set about building a team of people to help build the environment we wanted at WLTF. This HAD to be a slow process, so it could be done with care and attention. The reason we have had success and growth over the past 10 years is because we have the right people in the right places. It truly is a team effort.
As I transitioned from athlete to coach I realized it was no longer about me, now as a coach to a group of athletes and leading a team of WLTF staff I had to refine how I built relationships, motivate, develop and communicate with a range of different personalities. People like to feel part of something, they like to feel they belong, and it is my responsibility to drive that within our WLTF team
So, the second lesson I have learnt from ten years in coaching is the importance of people; how to develop trust, communication and understanding with a variety of personalities.
Lesson 3 – Many coaching “hats”
No-one or nothing really prepares you for the different “hats” you wear as a coach. Not even an undergrad and post grad degree, my coaching qualifications, 10 years of international experience as an athlete, and 10 years of coaching experience. There are still curve-balls.
Building a support network and accrued experience are two ways to help.
There’s usually someone somewhere who has experienced a similar situation to the one I am facing and can offer advice and guidance when something crops up that. I am grateful to be able to pick up the phone to some world class coaches and seek their counsel.
Experience also helps here; the longer I coach the more patterns of behavior I see and the better I can help athletes navigate their particular situation. There are certainly patterns emerging as I move through my career; there also continues to be curve balls which keep us all on our toes.
Lesson 4 – Communication is key
One of my favorite things I’ve heard along the way is “communication is not what’s said, it is what’s understood”.
Explicitly defining objectives, roles and responsibilities is key to a well-functioning team.
Within my first week of coaching back in 2014, I had a foot operation which left me in a plaster cast and on crutches for 8 weeks. No longer able to perform demo’s, I had to really develop my coaching language and communication skills to help athletes understand what we were learning in each session.
And of course, we have to remember that sometimes you just won’t get your message across. In times like this I always remember what my old coach Linford Christie used to say “if you cannot hear, you must feel”
Lesson 5 – Block out the noise
Someone is always going to have an opinion and you are NEVER going to please everyone.
The modern world gives us access to so much on social media. This can be both a blessing and a curse for coaches.
Athletes – stop copying all the fancy stuff from Instagram. You have no context.
Coaches – stop giving unsolicited advice. You have no context
As a coach we have to block out the noise; know who/what to pay attention to and what NOT too.
Lesson 6 – Impact and responsibility
I was very blessed in my career to work for a long time with two amazing coaches; Madeline and Linford. I often reflect on how our work together has shaped my coaching today.
It is this that reminds me every-day of my responsibility as a coach. The huge impact Mads and L had, remains with me today. So, what will my impact be with the athletes I have coached along the way?
It’s a big responsibility isn’t it?
These athletes are trusting you with their careers; asking for our guidance, support, mentorship, advice and encouragement. These relationships build over time and rely on authenticity, honesty and trust.
But you can’t please everyone. Not every coach can help every athlete. Sometimes the personalities just don’t fit, and that’s ok. Sometimes the best way to help, is to get out the way.
Lesson 7 – Do the work
Doing the work isn’t for everyone; “if you gotta tell them to carry the bricks, they aren’t the ones to build with”.
Track and field is hard, elite sport is hard, training is hard, getting better is hard, running your own business is hard. The sense of achievement you feel at the end of the hard bits makes it all worth it. Don’t cut corners, do the work.
Lesson 8 – Quality
I am sure we have all had someone in our lives say to us “do it right or not at all” well, that person may well have been me!
We need to do the right things, and then do them right.
Doing the right things right, allows them to grow.
A WORD OF WARNING.
Proceed with caution; more is not always better, better is better.
We can effective or we can be efficient.
Effectiveness > Efficiency
Lesson 9 – Work-life (off) balance
Work-life balance ebs and flows through the year. Learn to ride the waves and embrace each phase you are in.
It’s easier to get your head around work-life balance when you look at it over the course of the year rather than day to day.
Experience has taught me my top tips for survival during busy periods; exercise, coffee, time on my own. And during the less busy times I am making the most of time with family and friends and generally enjoying life away from the track, usually at a spa.
Lesson 10 – Olympics
The privilege of an Olympic Games as an athlete or coach should never be taken for granted.
As an athlete, I did not appreciate what it meant to compete at an Olympics Games. Now, back at the Games as I coach, I was able to appreciate what it meant to the athletes.
It was full circle moment.
Reflecting back on my experience as an athlete and then as a coach at an Olympic Games; it is an experience so unique that it’s hard to explain, challenging to prepare for and truly life changing.